Vacation Guest Blogger: George from Crocs
Many of you know George as the social media guy from Crocs. And NOW you may know him as the guy who was extorted at BlogHer. I know him as those things, sure, but I also know him as my friend, confidante, partner in crime, and SXSW buddy. Beyond the friendship, is a guy who cares about social media, branding *and* the people he interacts with.
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Parenting
by George G. Smith, Jr.
I never thought I would be writing a guest post on a “mommy blog,” even if I consider the mom whose blog it is a good friend. I mean – I’m a 28 year old male who had a panic attack while being swarmed by kids last spring. It’s also somewhat ironic that my day job has me reading “mommy blogs” and interacting with parents because, for the most part, I didn’t have any. My parents divorced when I was young and both became relatively absent in my life from that point on. And while I was blessed with some great adult role models in my life, it still leaves one a bit off to never have a real relationship with their parents.
Parenting is a funny thing. I’ve always set these goals of what I would do when I have kids. I’m not alone in that, I’m sure many of you reading this have done the same. When you’re 15, you think things like “I’m not going to set a curfew,” or when you’re 20 you think, “my kids can major in whatever major they want – even Sanskrit!” While those thoughts may change as you get older, they are always there waiting to be disrupted by the reality of having a child.
I can’t speak on that reality yet. Spending my day reading blogs, however, I see the complexity of emotions that every parent goes through… There is rarely a day that goes by where I don’t read a blog post that is wrought with fear about the everyday decisions that parents deal with. I only say this because it puts my childhood into comparison, and makes me hopeful for the future.
I think I’m blessed that my life has been able to be exposed to such great insight via blogs and online communities. I wonder what my parents would have been like if they had a blog or blogging friends to help handle the various ways that my behavior affected them. My dad always used to blame not having a good father on his issues with parenting. I don’t need to have the perfect dad to realize some of the great fathers that exist in the blogosphere and learn from them. My parents didn’t need to have a loving relationship because I witness families that love each other each day through RSS feeds. I don’t need to have experienced the perfect family in order to strive for it, because through everything I read I can help create my own ideal future.
So, I guess my guest post here is to merely say thank you to all the bloggers out there who share their stories – in touching, funny, intelligent, and/or thought provoking ways. Your ability to share your stories ultimately brings us to a better understanding of the human experience. It helps us grow as a community and, hopefully in my case, makes sure that the mistakes of generations past don’t get repeated. You’ve set me up to become a better parent than the cards my family had dealt me, and for that I’m forever in their debt. Thank you.
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Aww, George! I just shed a tear! That made my day.
You are so fortunate to be able to think about these things now. Most people just get thrown into parenting and marriage without knowing the real deal.
Hopefully reading mommy/daddy blogs hasn’t scared you off!
Thanks Aimee for letting me write on here!!1
This is really a great post. This community IS awesome!!
George — this is fantastic. The internet family is amazing isn’t it?
I am also grateful for all of the amazing parents out there that help me in my daily struggles of being a Mama.
Great, great post.
What a great guest post, George! I had to laugh at your admission of having a panic attack when being swarmed by kids…just so you know, that’s a normal reaction, pro at the whole kid thing or not. 😉
Not scared off, but definitely not rushing into it! I just figure when/if it happens, I’ll be fully prepared!
as far as the panic attacks are concerned George, the beauty of parenting is that you’ll probably be blessed with just one at a time. So hopefully swarms of newborns won’t be overwhelming you.
I wish I could step back in time reading my mom’s blog, feeling what she was experiencing when I was a child. I hope my girls feel the same way.
You applied a nice perspective to blogging and the online community. You never really feel alone now. That’s a huge difference in the past 8-10 years, I think.
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